Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar. INQUIRER file photo / Niño Jesus Orbeta
MANILA, Philippines — Five years into the national government’s controversial war on drugs, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Guillermo Eleazar claimed on Friday that communities have become “safer” amid a significant drop in crimes.
In a news forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), Eleazar was asked to assess the country’s campaign against drugs over the last five years.
“We know for a fact that most of the crimes being committed particularly sa index crimes—itong crimes against persons—is somehow connected or associated with the use of drugs and we have seen the drop by 59 percent to almost 60 percent for this almost five years of this administration compare mo doon sa dati,” Eleazar said.
“Everybody could admit na talagang mas naging safer yung ating lugar lalo na sa gabi,” he added.
Nonetheless, Eleazar admitted that the country’s illegal drugs problem still exists.
“It is true that this is not a perfect situation for us pero malayong malayo na pero still ang problema sa droga is nandiyan pa rin,” Eleazar said.
“We have cleared so many barangays since we started pero ang sinasabi nga natin this is a whole of community approach and this is not just the responsibility of the PNP or [Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency] because we are just in charge of the enforcement,” he added.
The country’s war against drug has been talked about not only locally but also in the international media, mainly due to the number of deaths recorded during the campaign particularly in anti-illegal drug operations conducted by the police.
Recently, former International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda formally requested judicial authorization to investigate the crimes against humanity case filed against President Rodrigo Duterte in relation to the war on drugs campaign.
Bensouda noted that based on information gathered by her office, there is reason to believe that state actors have killed thousands of civilians under the war against illegal drugs.
Eleazar earlier said alleged lapses in police operations are not being ignored.